Nagasaki Prefecture

Nagasaki Prefecture was created by merging of the western half of the former province of Hizen with the island provinces of Tsushima and Iki.[1] Facing China and Korea, the region around Hirado was a traditional center for traders and pirates.

Kuichi Uchida's image of Nagasaki in 1872

During the 16th century, Catholic missionaries and traders from Portugal arrived and became active in Hirado and Nagasaki, which became a major center for foreign trade. After being given free rein in Oda Nobunaga's period, the missionaries were forced out little by little, until finally, in the Tokugawa era, Christianity was banned under the Sakoku national isolation policy: Japanese foreign trade was restricted to Chinese and Dutch traders based at Dejima in Nagasaki. However, Kirishitan (Japanese Christian) worship continued underground. These Kakure Kirishitan (hidden Christians) were tried at every step, forced to step on fumi-e ("trample pictures", images of the Virgin Mary and saints) to prove that they were non-Christian. With the banishment of all Catholic missionaries, traders from Catholic countries were also forced out of the country. Along with them, their children, half Japanese and half European, were forced to leave. The majority was sent to Jagatara (Jakarta) and are still remembered by the locals as the people who wrote the poignant letters which were smuggled across the sea to their homeland.

Today, Nagasaki has prominent Catholic churches, and the Hidden Christian Sites in the Nagasaki Region, have been included on the UNESCO World Heritage List.

Nagasaki Prefect Office, Meiji Period

During the Meiji Restoration, Nagasaki and Sasebo became major ports for foreign trade, and eventually major military bases and shipbuilding centers for the Imperial Japanese Navy and the Mitsubishi Heavy Industries up to World War II. On August 9, 1945, the United States dropped an atomic bomb on Nagasaki, which destroyed all buildings in a 1.6 kilometres (1.0 mi) radius from the point of impact and extensively damaged other parts of the city. Roughly 39,000 people were killed, including 27,778 Japanese munitions workers, 2,000 Korean forced workers, and 150 Japanese soldiers. About 68-80% of the industrial production was destroyed to the point it would not recover for months or at least a year.

An overview of 1957 Isahaya floods

Nagasaki Prefecture contains many areas prone to heavy rain and landslide damage. In July 1957, mainly in the Isahaya area, damage from heavy rains, flooding and landslides lead to a death toll of 586, with 136 people missing and 3,860 injured. In July 1982, typhoon damage in the Nagasaki area lead to 299 fatalities, according to a report by the Japanese government.

Nagasaki borders Saga Prefecture on the east, and is otherwise surrounded by water, including Ariake Bay, the Tsushima Straits (far from Busan and South Gyeongsang Province, South Korea), and the East China Sea. It also includes a large number of islands such as Tsushima, Iki and Goto. Most of the prefecture is near the coast and there are a number of ports such as Nagasaki and a United States Navy base at Sasebo.

As of 1 April 2014, 18% of the total land area of the prefecture was designated as Natural Parks, namely the Saikai and Unzen-Amakusa National Parks; Genkai and Iki-Tsushima Quasi-National Parks; and Hokushō, Nishi Sonogi Hantō, Nomo Hantō, Ōmurawan, Shimabara Hantō, and Taradake Prefectural Natural Parks.[2]

Cities

See also: List of cities in Nagasaki Prefecture by population

Map of Nagasaki Prefecture
     City      Town

Night view of Nagasaki City

Sasebo

Shimabara

Thirteen cities are located in Nagasaki Prefecture:

Name		Area (km2)	Population	Map
Rōmaji	Kanji
Gotō	五島市	420.81	37,775
Hirado	平戸市	235.63	31,192
Iki	壱岐市	138.57	28,008
Isahaya	諫早市	341.79	135,546
Matsuura	松浦市	130.37	23,566
Minamishimabara	南島原市	169.89	45,465
Nagasaki (capital)	長崎市	240.71	407,624
Ōmura	大村市	126.34	95,146
Saikai	西海市	242.01	28,815
Sasebo	佐世保市	426.06	247,739
Shimabara	島原市	82.77	44,936
Tsushima	対馬市	708.61	31,550
Unzen	雲仙市	206.92	42,457

Districts

These are the towns and villages of each district:

Name		Area (km2)	Population	District	Type	Map
Rōmaji	Kanji
Hasami	波佐見町	56	14,940	Higashisonogi District	Town
Higashisonogi	東彼杵町	74.29	8,175	Higashisonogi District	Town
Kawatana	川棚町	74.25	9,219	Higashisonogi District	Town
Nagayo	長与町	28.81	42,570	Nishisonogi District	Town
Ojika	小値賀町	25.46	2,588	Kitamatsuura District	Town
Saza	佐々町	32.3	13,825	Kitamatsuura District	Town
Shin-Kamigotō	新上五島町	213.98	19,886	Minami-Matsuura District	Town
Togitsu	時津町	20.73	30,084	Nishisonogi District	Town

View of Osezaki Lighthouse on Fukue Island

Grave of William Adams in Hirado inscribed with his Japanese title Miura Anjin (三浦按針)

Shimabara Castle

Sōfuku-ji Ōbaku Zen temple in Nagasaki

Kujūku Islands in Sasebo

• Nagasaki (capital city)
  • Ōura Church
  • Urakami Cathedral
  • Confucius Shrine, Nagasaki
  • Glover Garden
  • Nagasaki Shinchi Chinatown
  • Mount Inasa
  • Kofukuji
  • Sōfuku-ji
  • Suwa Shrine
  • Hashima Island
• Hirado
  • Hirado Castle
  • Sakikata Park
• Sasebo
  • Kujūku Islands
  • Huis Ten Bosch
  • Tenkaihō Takayuki
• Saikai
  • Nagasaki Bio Park
• Shimabara Peninsula
  • Mount Unzen
  • Shimabara Castle

The current governor of Nagasaki is Kengo Oishi, who defeated three-term incumbent Hōdō Nakamura in 2022. Oishi, a doctor, was 39 years old when he took office, and the youngest sitting prefectural governor in Japan.[4] Nakamura was first elected in 2010 to succeed Genjirō Kaneko and was previously a vice-governor.

The prefectural assembly of Nagasaki has a regular membership of 46, elected in 16 electoral districts in unified regional elections (last round: 2011). As of April 2014, the LDP-led caucus has 23 members, the DPJ-SDP-led caucus 17.

In the National Diet, Nagasaki is represented by four directly elected members of the House of Representatives and two (one per ordinary election) of the House of Councillors. After the most recent national elections of 2010, 2012 and 2013, Nagasaki sends an all-LDP delegation to the Diet (excluding members who lost election in Nagasaki districts, but were elected to the proportional representation segment of the House of Representatives in the Kyūshū block).

• Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric and Käthe Roth (2005). Japan Encyclopedia. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. ISBN 978-0-674-01753-5; OCLC 58053128

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Nagasaki prefecture.

Wikivoyage has a travel guide for Nagasaki (prefecture).

• Official website
• Geographic data related to Nagasaki Prefecture at OpenStreetMap